Keonjhar: Proving the conception that women can never be good drivers, particularly when it comes to drive goods carrier auto, wrong, Kabita Pradhan has been on the driver’s seat for a year now.
Her driving satisfies her customers and it keeps, as she claims, her profession thriving.
Kabita tied the knot with Shankarshan Pradhan of Nahabe village of Jhumpura block in Keonjhar district about 11 years ago. Then, the financial condition of her family was not so good. Then two daughters were born to them, taking the total number of members to ten.
This was when Kabita started toying with the idea of buying a goods carrier auto. However, the thought of her being a subject of derogatory remarks from local male auto drivers was pulling her back. But her strong will power eventually won. Availing a bank loan, she bought a goods carrier auto and it has been a year since she is driving it.
Every day she carries grocery items to several weekly markets nearby and sells there. Her husband is always there to extend a helping hand to her, she says.
Now her family’s misfortunes have become a thing of past. With whatever she is earning, she is not only running her family but also depositing monthly installments, bearing the education cost of her two daughters – one is nine years old and the younger one seven – who are studying at Saraswati Sishu Vidyamandir. Besides saving something for the rainy days, she is also able to deposit something in Sukanya Accounts, opened in the names of her two daughters at the village post office.
“I never wish to see my children go through the bad phase in our lives. I wish to give them better education so that they can have a comparatively better future,” she says.
According to her, women are in no way inferior or less skilled than men. “Courage is everything. At first, driving the auto was a challenge for me. But I accepted it. The initial fear of being a target of filthy comments has now gone for the good,” she said.
Now the villagers and fellow male auto drivers have become her admirers. “Instead of cursing one’s luck for poor financial condition, it is hundred times better to toil hard to bring about a change for better,” she opines.
PNN